From Agents and Creative Pros

As a triple threat talent agency with clients that must act, dance and sing, Courtenay is one of our go-to coaches. He is skilled at dealing with singers of all calibres, assessing their needs, and making them feel comfortable with the art of singing whether it be for stage or screen. We always receive strong feedback on his coachings.

— Melissa Panton, Principal Agent at da Costa Talent Management

As director of a band that plays high-end corporate functions all over Western Canada, and increasingly, worldwide, I require elite singers who can do more than just belt out a few high notes.

Our singers need to be able to hit sometimes extremely high notes, in many styles, and do it without going flat, or sounding strained—repeatedly—over a long evening.

We audition Canada-wide and, when we’re lucky, we find singers who can already do this. At other times, Courtenay’s ability to help coach singers, technically, for the demands of our shows has been crucial in helping our band maintain its vocal excellence.

I’ve known Courtenay for many years, and his dedication to voice technique and its teaching is fierce. If you want to sing a bit better, there are probably lots of teachers who can get you started. If you want to become exceptional, I can’t think of anyone to recommend more highly than Mr. Ennis.

— Kelly Becker, Director of Entertainment, Famous Players Band. Clients include Mercedes Benz, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, and the American Bar Association; recent engagements in Bejing, Barcelona, New York, and Maui.

I had the pleasure of working alongside Courtenay when he was the musical director for Grease at Studio 58. His passion for, together with his knowledge of vocal technique clearly rubbed off on the cast. In gentle and supportive, yet very specific ways, he helped so many of the students become stronger, more confident singers. Anyone looking for clear, tangible techniques to improve his or her voice would do well to coach with Courtenay.

As a choreographer and performer on Broadway, and the West End, I’d heard the standard advice about singing many times—usually to do with breathing and placement. Watching Courtenay work, though, convinced me that there are more effective ways for performers to find the strong “mix/belt voice” creative teams are looking for.

I’ve led several workshops with Courtenay, and it’s always impressive to see him coach. He quickly assesses and tweaks each singer’s technique, so they immediately experience better singing.

For myself, as I tried his warm-ups with the group, I felt a different kind of ease and clearer tone with my high notes, which I was not expecting. We all gained new, valuable approaches to singing in a short period of time. I also appreciated his ability to relate various concepts to dance technique.

It’s obvious that Courtenay has a passion for voice technique and understands it on a deep level. More importantly, he knows how to break that knowledge down into simple steps that anyone can apply. I give Courtenay my highest recommendation as a teacher.

The major reason I left the Centennial Theatre in such an upbeat mood was the way musical director Ennis updated the score. Kudos also to Ennis’ band who never lost the beat all night and switched styles seamlessly.